Afriqiyah Airways 5A-ONB Hijacking report 23rd December 2016

As we entered 2017 I like to make a final statement on what happened of Afriqiyah Airways Flight 209 on 23rd December 2016.

Afriqiyah Airways 5A-ONB Airbus A320 new to Afriqiyah Airway in 2007 taken 2nd January 2017.

Arline: Afriqiyah Airways
Registration: 5A-ONB
Flight: 8U 209
Flight of origin: Sahba, Libya
Destination: Tripoli, Libya

Flight 209 was on a domestic flight from Sahba to Tripoli Mitiga in Libya with 118 passengers & 7 crew it departed Sahba at 08:10 local time due to land in Tripoli at 09:20. Before descending to Tripoli the hijackers named Suhah Mussa and Ahmed Ali one hijacker considered to be pro-Gaddafi forcing the captain to divert & land in Malta 11:32am at runway 31 vacating by runway 05 the engines was still running while the aircraft was surrounded by the Maltese military. The weapons have been reported that the hijackers were carrying a hand grenade to threaten to blow up the plane, one pistol and there was another second hand that was found on the plane however the weapons are "replica."

The two hijackers surrendered with the green Gaddafi-era flag later surrender to the Maltese Authorities then got arrested. Later that day, the passengers & crew flew back to Libya another Afriqiyah Airways plane while 5A-ONB was seized by the Maltese Government for investigation it was confirmed that the aircraft is safe to fly it flew back to Tripoli, Libya in 6th January 2017. However this isn't the first time Malta had hijacking incident.

EgyptAir Flight 648

23rd - 24th November 1985 Flight 648 from Athens, Greece to Cairo, Egypt was hijacked by three Palestinians they were heavily armed and grenades. The Aircraft was SU-AYH Boeing 737-200. The hijackers want to land in Libya but due to negative publicity, Malta was chosen. 62 passengers including 2 hijackers died 38 passengers survived including one hijacker.

Air Malta Flight 830

9th June 1997 Flight 830 from Malta - Istanbul, Turkey was hijacked 20 minutes after the flight by two Turkish Nationals later diverted to Cologne, Germany. One of the men entered the cockpit showing the pilots a dynamite sticks strapped on his chest threaten to blow up the whole aircraft. The Turkish gunman Mehmet Ali Agca was sentence to life in prison in Italy after trying to assassinate Pop John Paul II in 1981. The German police found no explosives on the aircraft this was Air Malta's first ever hijacking flight in aviation history other than the 1981 explosion of an Air Malta plane in Cairo, Egypt we'll come to that part in the future blog. The hijacking Air Malta flight was 9H-ABF Boeing 737-200 still active with Avior Airlines YV2998 in Venezuela.

As we come to the recent hijacking of Afriqiyah Airways Flight 209, this will be part of our history in Malta International Airport hoping this will not happen again in the future.